JiaWen Luo
JiaWen Luo grew up in a rural Chinese farming village, from which not one person had ever attended college. She dreamed of being the first. After high school graduation in 2005, JiaWen found work in a city 15 hours away from her village. JiaWen knew this was not the life she dreamed about as a child. " I thought my work was meaningless. I felt like a zombie," she thought. She studied English in her spare time. After 2 years of self-taught English, in 2007, she began to do translation work for American companies doing business in China. Through this work, she met her husband and immigrated to the United States in 2013.
JiaWen did not give up her goal of attending college. She knew her high school transcript from China would not be accepted in the U.S. She studied diligently, passed the GED test, and enrolled in FRCC, where she maintains a 4.0 grade average.
JiaWen will graduate from FRCC in December 2016 with her AA Degree. JiaWen plans on transferring to a four-year university where she will study for her Bachelors Degree emphasizing business, accounting and security. She wants to work within a government agency that can use her analytical and multi-lingual skills.
JiaWen plans to give back, because she knows how lucky she was to meet the right people and to be able to receive an education at FRCC. “I was a poor farm girl with no future. I want to inspire others to follow their dreams. I want them to know there is always hope through hard work and dedication to a dream,” JiaWen explains.
She describes herself as blessed to have a husband and loving family to push and support her dream and is very appreciative to be a FRCC Foundation scholarship recipient. “I never really thought I could reach my goals. Now I know I can achieve even more.”